Life of Lyra
by Kinickmod Naiziza
Summary: PJO/Twilight crossover. Mainly PJO, though. Lyra Andromeda Ryan is half-vampire, half-goddess. And she's not exactly the typical daughter of Aphrodite, either.
1. Chapter 1

Some mortals think I'm crazy. Some demigods think I'm crazy. Some vampires think I'm crazy. Some gods and goddesses think I'm crazy. But I'm not. I'm just _me,_ Lyra Andromeda Ryan. End of story.

* * *

Okay, maybe I knew I couldn't get rid of you that easily. Oh well, I guess I'll tell what there is to tell. First off, I'm this weird thing that's half vampire, half Greek goddess. Yeah, long story. Tell you later, I promise. Secondly, almost all the mortals, demigods, vampires, and gods/goddesses I know think me wickedly beautiful, even though I've been desperately trying to convince them otherwise. Thirdly, my mother is the goddess Aphrodite and my father is Gregor Ryan, a vampire. And fourthly, next year I'm destined to become immortal. Here's how the twisted mess of my life started.

My earliest memory is seeing my gorgeous mother for the first time. And I do mean the first time, too. I looked up at her with my big, shocking, violet eyes and smiled. My father then carried me off, not to see my mother for another four years. My mother apparently had told him that I needed to live with him until I was 12, and then she would see how I was doing and would look after me, but I could visit her now and then. So, when I was four, I visited her for the first time on Mt. Olympus. That was also when I met my "family."

They're not really my family, because my mom was born out of sea foam, but they act like it. I also met my step-dad, Hephaestus. He took one look at me, grunted something that sounded like, "Probably just like her mother," and walked away. My mother patted my back and told me he was just jealous that I looked so beautiful. The rest of my "family" was nice, except Artemis. She got into an argument with Mom about me joining the hunters when I turned 13. Mom was furious and said that she, "Would never let her daughter forsake her beauty just to be part of an extreme girl scout troop." Ever since then, Artemis has given me the cold shoulder.

My life from then until my twelfth birthday was filled with hunting trips and feeding myself off of blood.

When I did turn 12, I packed up all of my four suitcases and went to Mt. Olympus. Zeus was allowing me to stay because I wasn't technically a half-blood and could either survive on exclusively blood or exclusively nectar and ambrosia. I liked nectar, but it tasted too sweet. I also liked ambrosia, but it was too much like sweetened dirt. I prefered good, wholesome human blood, which I had been raised on. Unfortunately for me, that's where the Olympians drew the line.

One of the difficulties of being one of a kind is my contradicting nature. Because of Mom, I'm supposed to have ADHD and not be able to sit still at all, and dyslexia that challenges my sight. Because of Dad, I'm supposed to be able to be like a statue and see things too clearly. So, depending on my mood, sometimes I can hold still and see far, or not. It's quite annoying.

Until I turned 14, living on Olympus was like a child living at Disney World. I never got bored. I never was doing nothing. But when I was 14, I wanted friends of my own that weren't all powerful. Sure, I could turn invisible and fade out of existence for any time period, but all I had in the controlling nature department was love. Bo-ring! As you can probably tell, I'm not the typical daughter of Aphrodite.

This is my story, the life of Lyra Andromeda Ryan.


	2. Chapter 2

"But I WANT to go to camp!" I protested to my mother.

She shook her head. "No."

"I bet Dad would let me if I asked..." I hinted. I had realized at age 13 that Mom would do anything Dad thought was good for me, so I frequently used it to my advantage.

She sighed. "What will you eat?"

"Nectar and ambrosia," I answered automatically.

"But all those children-"

"Mom, I think I'll be fine. I went to school, remember? If I could survive being around that many humans, I think I can live with demigods for two months."

"Fine, Lyra. But if anything happens to you, it's your own fault."

I smiled. "Thanks, Mom!"

I gave her a quick hug and started packing, since camp started the next day. I was going to Camp Half-Blood, a camp for half-gods. So, technically, I could still go.

The next morning I was going down the Emipre State Building elevator, lugging my six designer suitcases. At the same time.

I was practically jumping up and down when Argus came to pick me up.

"I'm so excited!" I squealed.

He grunted, which I took as a, "You should be! We all are excited that someone as unique and beautiful as you is coming!!!"

The drive took a little over an hour, which I passed by reciting all my multiplication tables up to 100, writing a new poem, and thinking about all my potential friends waiting at camp.

I knew we were getting close because of the smell. Blood, blood, and more blood. My mouth almost started watering, but I stifled it and popped a square of ambrosia in my mouth.

When Argus pulled into the driveway-ish thing, I smiled out the window at all the shocked faces. Argus pulled to a stop, opened my door for me, and took my luggage. I got out and looked around. I was there! I had made it!

About five or so kids my age approached me. A fierce-looking, pretty-for-a-human blond girl was in the front. Daughter of Athena, definitely. Just behind her to her right was an ivory skinned, brown haired, blue eyed girl whose skin seemed to glow a little. I guessed that she was a daughter of either Zeus or Apollo. To the blond girl's left was a Korean guy with the devilish grin of Hermes. Sorta behind him to his left was a tough looking, dark haired kid that I swore I'd seen before somewhere. Behind the daughter of Apollo was another tough looking guy, only he had black hair and olive skin. One look in his black eyes told me he was a son of Hades. My throat burned, but I ignored it.

The blond introduced herself. "I'm Emma, daughter of Athena." She pointed at the dark haired girl. "This is Kate, daughter of Apollo." She smiled at the Korean boy. "This is Cody, son of Hermes and my boyfriend." She jabbed a finger at the guy behind Cody. "That's Nico, son of Hades." And I looked at the last one that she hadn't named in the eyes.

"Travis??" I asked incredulously.

"Lyra?" he asked, sounding just as confused.

I glanced at everyone's startled expressions and said to them, "We hung out at the solstices for the past three years."

He added, "No one else our age."

I high-fived him and asked him, "How's is going, oh fiery son of Hades and Persephone?"

"All fine, daughter of Aphrodite and random vampire."

I glanced around the camp, taking in all the sights, including an older version of Emma and a black haired boy making out under a tree.

Kate followed my line of vision and giggled, "That's just Annabeth and Percy. They're 18, and are going off to college in the fall."

"Percy Jackson?" I inquired.

She nodded. "Yeah."

I'd seen him once, a few years ago, after he defeated the Titan Lord, Kronos.

Emma poked Kate's shoulder. "Up for sparring?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Kate challenged.

Emma told me, "Nico will show you around. He's been here longer than any of us."

I half-smiled timidly at Nico and he looked starstruck for a second, but quickly recovered.

Emma, Kate, Cody, and Travis cleared out, leaving me with Nico.

"So..." I started awkwardly.

"What do you want to see first?"

"Doesn't really matter. Anything, really, as long as it doesn't involve someone bleeding."

Nico said, "Mental note: no swordfighting. So, Lyra, what's it like being half vampire?"

I laughed a tinkling sound. "Hard. Sure, the speed and strength are great, but it's kind of hard fighting the burning in my throat. But don't worry. I can survive on purely nectar and ambrosia. What's it like being a son of Hades?"

"Tough, since I'm hated by most of the gods and goddesses, except your mom. But she's nice to everyone."

"Yeah, she is. So, I heard there's no Hades cabin. How do you and Travis stay here then?"

He tried unsuccessfully to look modest. "Well, I kinda helped with the whole defeating Kronos thing, so the gods added an underground cabin."

"That was really nice of them. No one should be excluded because of their immortal parent."

"You wanna start with the Big House?"

"Sure, why not?"

We walked to the Big House. While walking, I glanced around and found a group of my half-sisters exchanging makeup tips. I cringed.

"Not exactly like them?" Nico said.

"Yep."

The rest of the walk was in silence. When we stepped up to the porch, Nico told the fat guy sitting there, "Hey, Mr. D. You've met Lyra?"

I jumped. That was Mr. D??? The last time I'd seen him, he was better dressed and younger-looking.

"Hi, Lord Dionysus," I told him.

"Lyra, how are you? Wow, you're getting so big!" Typical response. "You look just like your mother!" Another typical response. Wow, 2 typical answers. Big surprise.

I faked a smile. "Thanks, Lord Dionysus."

From what I'd heard, the middle-aged man sitting in the wheelchair must have been Chiron.

"Hello, Chiron," I greeted good-naturedly.

"Lyra Andromeda Ryan. What a pleasure to meet you!"

I flinched at my full name. What kind of mom would make their daughter's name Musical Instrument Girl-chained-to-a-rock (Insert last name here)?

I quickly recovered with a dazzling smile. Nico looked dazed again. I snapped my fingers in front of his face. "Snap out of it!"

He shook his head. "Oh, uh, um... Yeah, uh..."

Mr. D smiled. "Almost like hypnosis. You've got a gift, Lyra."

If I could have blushed, I would have. Why in Tartarus would I want to be able to almost hypnotize people by smiling?!

Mr. D clapped Nico's shoulder. "I feel bad for you, son of Corpse Breath. It seems as if you and all the male teenagers at this camp are going to be affected by her accidental love magic."

* * *

_All right, chapter two is DONE! Review, please!_


	3. Chapter 3

"Love magic... what?" I asked, confused.

Dionysus stated boringly, "Well, no offense, but you've got two of the most attractive parents _in the universe_. Can you see how that may affect you?"

I threw my hands up and stomped down the Big House porch. Nico followed closely behind.

When we had gotten a safe distance from everyone (AKA the middle of the forest) I stopped and whirled around, demanding, "What do you want?"

I instantly regretted it. Nico looked like I had just punched him in the gut.

"No-Nico-Sorry," I said awkwardly. I pouted. There came the starstruck look again.

He shook his head. "Lyra, it's not you. Everyone always treats me like dirt because of my Dad."

"That's really not fair. Everyone should behave themselves more."

He cracked a half-smile. "Yeah, tell me about it."

"What else of camp is there to see?"

"A lot. We haven't even scratched the surface yet."

"OK, then let's go."

"First you'll get an inside and personal view of all the cabins." He grinned evilly. "Including your cabin."

I gave a theatrical "NOOOOOOOO!"

"Should I take that as a signal that we should set out?"

"Yep."

We walked side-by-side, me stepping gracefully as was natural for me, and Nico, well... stumbling. Twice he almost fell but caught himself.

We reached the U of cabins.

"Pick a side," Nico told me.

"Right is always right," I joked. Nico rolled his eyes.

We started with number 12, the Dionysus cabin. Nico held the door for me. I smiled.

Next we went in number 10, my new home. It was pink. That's one of the only ways to describe it. Pink. And mirrors everywhere, covering the ceiling, the floor, and two of the walls.

Nico inched towards the door and said, "I've never been in here before, and I'm kind of glad about it."

I nodded. "It's creeping me out, with all these mirrors."

Out of seemingly nowhere, one of my half-sisters appeared. She smiled a white, blinding smile.

"You must be Lyra," she smiled. "I'm your big sister and counselor, Silena."

She must have been at least in the twenties, so I wondered why she was still at camp. Anyway, I said, "Hi, Silena."

She squealed and led me over to a bunk that was on top. I knew then and there that whenever I would try to read, I wouldn't be able to focus because of the stupid ceiling mirror two feet above me.

One quick thing that I forgot to tell you guys: I can't sleep. At all. So I stay up at night doing whatever I want. But that wouldn't be possible at camp, because there was this new thing called "Lights Out." At least, new to me. What would I do at night? Stare at my reflection at several different angles?!

Anyway, I smiled back at Silena. "Thanks, really."

She pointed to my personal closet behind my bed where my six trunks were packed. "There's your closet. I put a camp T-Shirt in it, but you don't have to wear it if you want."

"Why?"

"It's _orange_." She said orange with a shudder, like it was some sort of creepy, bloodsucking thing that would sneak in your house at night. Like any sensible thing would describe my dad.

I opened my mouth and exhaled, "Oh. I don't like orange that much."

Silena squealed again. "We are going to be great friends, I can tell that much!"

I looked helplessly at Nico, who was trying to conceal the fact that he was cracking up.

The rest of the tour was uneventful, and to put it lightly, boring.

Nico and I went for a walk after the tour through the strawberry fields while I told him about my life as a half-vampire.

When I came to the part about hunting, Nico asked, "You really drank humans blood?"

I figured I could trust Nico, so I said cautiously, "Yes..."

"Well, that's... morbid. And gross. Who would think of sweet little you killing anyone?"

"I've never actually killed anyone!" I protested. "Dad killed the humans! Not me!"

He put his hands up in mock-surrender. "Okay, okay. No need to go crazy."

"Speaking of going crazy, how can you and anyone else put up with my siblings?"

He stopped walking, pondered a moment, and shrugged, "I honestly don't know."

"Great. Now I have to figure out how to live in a pink, mirrored room filled with crazy people!"

"Aw, come on. I know that, very deep down, you're like them."

I scoffed, "Not a chance." Then I looked at Nico and realized something. "You know, Nico, you're shirt's on backwards."

That caught him off guard. He looked at the inside collar of his shirt and found the tag. "Yep." And then he smiled evilly. "Ha, you are like them. This shirt looks the same backwards and forwards."

"Does not! The collar of the back comes up half an inch higher!"

"See what I mean? You are a daughter of Aphrodite, whether you like it or not."

I scowled. I whined, "Why do I of all people have to be a daughter of Aphrodite?"

Nico shrugged. "Who knows? Anyway, I have sword practice in fifteen minutes."

"Nice getting to know you, Nico."

"Ditto."

I smiled and ran at top speed (which by the way is faster than most cars on highways) to my cabin, where I was greeted by Silena.

Once again, she ambushed me out of nowhere. I figured I would have to get used to it.

"OMG," she gushed to me. "I totally saw you and Nico checking each other out! Tell me everything!!!"

"I barely know him!" I countered defenselessly.

Silena wouldn't take that for an answer. "I saw the chemistry between you guys definitely. Tell! Me! Everything!"

"There's nothing to tell! We talked! A lot! And toured the camp!"

"Did you guys go for a walk after?""Yes… In the strawberry fields…"

Silena sang, "_Strawberry fields forever_! Oh, you just HAVE to tell Mom!"

"What?!"

"She'll be so proud! None of her daughters has started liking someone their first day of camp! Ever!"

"Listen, Silena. I like Nico, but as a friend. Period."

"For now."

And with that, Silena ran out of the cabin giggling. I felt like punching a pink wall. But the wall would probably just break, and I didn't want to take my chances with my sometimes-super strength.

Instead, I just ran up the ladder and collapsed on my bunk, staring at my reflection. Why did I ever want to go to camp?


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, I was stirred from my thoughts by Silena forcefully shaking me out of my bunk. I was hurtling towards the floor.

Before I broke said floor, I twisted around in midair and landed on my tiptoes.

Silena stared at me open-mouthed.

"What?" I asked.

"How'd you… In less than a second…"

I had forgotten that demigods wouldn't be used to my heightened speed and senses.

Silena said, clapping my shoulder, "Anyway, get dressed. Breakfast is in ten minutes, and then we have to talk with the Athena cabin about Capture the Flag. Apparently they want you on their team, so we have to work it out, all twelve of us."

She obviously meant all of my eleven half-siblings and me.

"K, Silena. I'll be right out to the dining pavilion."

I opened my closet doors and found all of my clothes unpacked and organized neatly. I picked out a violet colored shirt that matched my eyes and brown skinny jeans that matched my hair and brought out my skin tone. After I got dressed, I looked at the mirror. My hair was as chocolate colored and curly as ever, so I let it hang crazily on the sides of my head and down to my mid-arm. Perfect. Crazy, messy, and perfect. Just the way I liked it. I'd never cared much about my appearance and rarely tried to change it. I was happy with my self-image.

I walked slowly to the dining pavilion, stopping occasionally. It wasn't a long walk and I had plenty of time. I noticed small things, like dryads coming out of their trees and naiads weaving baskets. Sometimes nature was just fascinating.

When I reached the Aphrodite table, my siblings greeted me and yelled protests about my "awful" hair.

One of my more annoying sisters, Sydney, said, "Lyra, you're like hair is like messy. Why don't you like straighten it?"

"I hate my hair straight," I told her.

After my breakfast, I slid out of my seat and to the communal table by the river where several of my cabin mates and the Athena kids were sitting.

"Hi," I said nicely to the Athena kids.

The oldest that Kate had told me was Annabeth said to me, "Hi, Lyra. I'm Annabeth Chase, the counselor of the Athena cabin. We're leading one of the teams for Capture the Flag. So far we have Apollo, Poseidon, and Hades, but we want Aphrodite. I've heard you're a killer athlete."

Silena told her, "Annabeth, you should have seen her this morning. One second she was falling, and the next she was landing on her tiptoes. Not to mention that Nico said she runs faster than a car."

I lowered myself in my chair. I didn't necessarily like being the center of attention all the time.

Annabeth asked me, "So, Lyra, what do you say? Silena says that if you want to be on our team, she's fine with it. The rest of your cabin is sitting out, anyway."

I sat up straight again. "Let's whoop some Ares butt."

Annabeth smiled hugely. "That's the spirit! The game's at 8, but we're meeting in the armory at 7:45. See you there!"

With that, she and her siblings left, except Emma. She stuck around.

"Lyra," she started. "You liking camp so far?"

I snorted. "Despite most of my sisters, yes. It's great."

Emma smiled. "If you want to hang out with us, we'd like that. You seem cool."

"Thanks, Emma."

She waved and sprinted off to her cabin.

Suddenly, Chiron galloped over to me.

"Lyra and Silena, gather all heads of the cabins, to meet in the Big House immediately. You should come too, Lyra."

He galloped away. I turned to Silena.

"So, what do we do? Knock on all the cabin doors and shout for the counselor?"

Silena smiled and nodded. "Exactly."

I ran first to the portal to the Hades cabin. I banged on the hatch.

"NICO! You're needed at the Big House!"

Travis opened the portal and stared out at me. It was kind of a funny sight, since half of him was underground.

"What do you want?" he asked irritably.

I feigned shock and hurt. "What? Oh wait, let me guess: You're playing Legend of Zelda?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Bingo!"

"Where is Nico?"

"Down at the archery range. Why?"

"Chiron said to gather all the counselors."

"Oh. Then I can't help you."

Without saying goodbye, Travis closed the hatch.

I ran to the archery range. When I came to Nico, I tapped his shoulder. He turned around so quickly that he shot a tree.

"Nico! Chiron needs all counselors and me in the Big House!"

"OK, Lyra, meet you there."

I ran back to the cabins and got all the counselors that Silena had left. Then I went to the Big House where everyone was seated around a giant Ping Pong table.

Mr. D was at one end, playing Ping Pong against an invisible dude. Everyone else was just looking at them, bored.

Except Chiron, who, when he saw me, clapped his hands and stood up to his full centaur-height. "Campers!" he said. "I have something urgent to tell you all. This is serious and is not a practical joke, even though it sounds like it. We are going on a field trip!"

Annabeth shrieked, "What?"

Percy said, "Calm down, Annabeth. It's just a field trip."

Nico leaned back in his chair so that it was tipping back. He rested his feet on the table. Over all, he looked very laid back and uncaring. I smiled at one of my first friends. He looked starstruck for a minute, lost his balance, and tipped backwards off his chair. I couldn't resist a small giggle. When he got up, looking embarrassed, he rolled his eyes at me. I giggled again.

Chiron continued after Nico was back on his chair, "We are going to our sister camp in Mexico."

Clarisse, an Ares camper maybe even older than Silena, blurted, "Since when do we have a sister camp in Mexico? I thought this was the only camp like this in the world."

Chiron, as if he hadn't heard Clarisse, said, "Tomorrow, we are going on buses to Mexico, where we will stay several days. Please tell everyone."

Clarisse interrupted again as she jabbed a finger at me, "Why'd you bring the runt?"

"Because of what my next point is. Mexico is known to be full of vampires. Lyra has the most expertise with that sort of thing. Am I right?" he asked me.

I said, "Yeah, I think I know quite a bit more about vampires than the average demigod. Why?"

"I think you should tell the camp some ways to defend yourself against one, if we happen to meet one."

"K, Chiron. When?"

"In approximately thirty minutes."

"Sounds reasonable enough to me."

"You are all dismissed. Meet at the amphitheater in half an hour with the rest of the camp. I will announce it over the loudspeaker, but it would be best if you all came on your own. Good bye!"

All of us campers filtered out. On the way back to the cabins, I caught up with Nico.

"Nice fall," I laughed. He blushed scarlet through his olive skin.

"Thanks," he said sarcastically. "Good luck with the speech-thing."

"Thanks. I'll need it. What if I don't know what to say?"

"You'll do fine. I know it."

"Really, Nico?"

"I mean it, Lyra."

I waved. "See ya!"

We were at the cabins when I went in mine. For the third time, Silena appeared out of nowhere.

She was frowning and tapping her foot impatiently on the mirrored floor. "It's taking too long!"

"What's taking too long?"

She made a sound of exasperation. "You and Nico falling in love, duh! It doesn't usually take this long with a daughter of Aphrodite!"

My only response was to hang my mouth open in shock.

"Oh, come on! Didn't you see him looking at you the entire time?"

"Everyone was looking at me."

"They were not! Nico kept stealing glances at you from across the table, I saw it! And you made him fall off his chair! Why is it taking so long?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask Mom?" I retorted, when I instantly wished I hadn't. A look of hope crossed Silena's features.

"Of course!"

She took off her crystal necklace and put it in the sun. A mini-rainbow came off. She threw a golden drachma into it and shouted, "O goddess, except my offering! The goddess Aphrodite, Mount Olympus!"

I left the room to blow off some steam. Taking so long?! WHAT?!

I stomped to the Arts and Crafts building, pouting. When I got there, I saw everyone making swords and such, so I left. I decided to go into a canoe then, but there were no open ones. In despair, I walked to the Amphitheater to prepare for my speech. I saw my godly half-brother, Eros, taking something out of his backpack. Why was Eros there in the first place? I was turning around and about to start complaining to the first person I saw that nothing made sense when I collapsed to the ground. Something had just shot my back, and I thought I knew who it was.


	5. Chapter 5

The next thing I was conscious of was someone shaking my shoulders. I opened my eyes and saw Nico. For some odd reason, I started grinning in a goofy sort of way.

"Nico," I said dreamily.

He stared into my eyes with a thousand times more powerful starstruck look than he had ever had before.

"Lyra," he said equally as dreamily.

Until I recovered my senses and looked at his back, where a giant gold arrow was protruding. I turned around to look at my back, where an identical golden arrow was sticking out. I glanced to my left and saw my brothers and sisters wiping their eyes with tears of joy.

It hit me like a ton of bricks: Silena had messaged my mom. Mom had told Eros to come to camp. Eros, doing what he was told, shot me and Nico. With Love Arrows. But strangely... it was... okay.

I did the only natural thing: I stuck out my arms and hugged Nico. He hugged me back.

Chiron galloped over with a stern expression on his face. He forcefully pulled the arrows out of our backs. But we didn't let go of each other.

Silena squealed and jumped up and down, clapping her hands. "YAY!" she shrieked. "IT WORKED!"

"EROS!" Chiron boomed. Eros strutted out from behind a tree. "What kind of arrows were those?"

"Love Arrows," Eros replied in his whiny voice. "Version 3.0. Much more powerful. And once you shoot two people that have already sort of started to like each other, the effects don't usually wear off. Hey, don't give me that look! Mother sent me!"

I pulled away from Nico. "Wait, what's all this nonsense about Mom sending you? She would never do that to me!"

Eros looked at me with loathing. "Yes, she would."

Chiron stated in a scholarly tone, "Eros, please stop ruining my campers' lives. Be gone." He turned to me. "Lyra, do you still want to do the presentation on vampires?"

Once Eros had left, I said to Chiron, "Yeah, I guess I can. I'm just kind of depressed."

"Anyone who just had your experience would be."

I turned to Nico and smiled.

He said, "Break a leg, Lyra."

"Thanks, Nico."

"See you later!" he called as he was shuffled to the side by an irritated-looking Travis.

"I miss you already!" I called back without thinking. What was with the extreme corny-ness?

Chiron blew a gigantic conch horn, and all the campers came running from all directions. I took my place on the center platform which had been put temporarily over the campfire pit.

Mr. D nodded at me as if to say, "Start."

So I started with, "Okay, you all probably know me. I'm Lyra, daughter of Aphrodite and a vampire. For several years, I grew up with vampires, so I learned their weaknesses. The main thing is that many weapons can't hurt them. Only vampire teeth," I smiled toothily and gestured to my sharp teeth, "werewolf teeth, and Stygian iron can pierce their rock like skin. Anyone have a Stygian iron weapon?" Nico and Travis raised their hand. To my surprise, both Kate and Emma did too.

"Arrows," Kate explained.

"A dagger," Emma also explained.

I went on. "Okay, so a few of you have them. The rest of you should look into getting some. Vampires aren't stopped by shields, either made of celestial bronze or steel. They are only stopped by shield containing Stygian iron, for a reason that no one knows. Now for my next point. If any of you are bitten, you will apparently feel extreme pain. I wouldn't know, since I've never been bitten. But try to get away from the vampire that bit you as fast as possible before the venom spreads. If you do become a vampire, then great. Have fun preying on humans. If they suck all your blood before you can get away, tough luck, but there's nothing you can do unless you have the right weapons. My third point is this: To fully kill them, as in, going down to Hades, you need to cut them to pieces and then burn the shreds before they reform. Have fun with that. If I were you, I wouldn't attack a vampire. Any questions?"

My sister, Sydney, raised her hand, so I called on her. She said in what sounded like questions, "Um, if like vampires? Like exist? Do like the Cullens? Actually exist too?"

I saw several girls sitting forward in their seats to hear my answer.

"Yes..." I said cautiously.

"Then could you like? Introduce? Me?"

"No..." I said just as slowly as I had before.

"Like why?"

"One, I don't know where they are. Two, they would creep you out if you actually met them. And three, I've only met them once."

All the girls who had paid attention looked disappointed and sat dejectedly back in their seats.

"Any more questions?"

Percy Jackson raised his hand, so I called on him. "What happens if you get bitten?"

I said slowly, "Well, to put it simply, I die. It's like poison to me."

Whispers floated throughout the crowd. I walked to Chiron.

"I think that wraps it up," I told him. He nodded and dismissed everyone.

Nico found me and put his arm across my shoulders as we started walking. I could get used to that!

"That was creepy," he whispered in my ear.

I smiled and showed my teeth. "You said it."

"You did a great job though!"

"Really?"

"You bet. It was the best speech I've ever heard, ever."

"You really think so? I've never addressed this many demigods before!"

"I'll tell you one thing, though. I'm going to do whatever I can to protect you in Mexico."

"Nico- You don't have to-"

"Lyra, I couldn't stand it if you died. So I'm going to keep you safe no matter what."

"Nico, thanks. Really. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"It's nothing. I just really really like you."

"I really really like you too."

"Want to go on a walk with me in the Strawberry Fields?"

I smiled. "That would be nice."

As we started walking for the strawberry fields, Nico reached for my hand and I let him take it. We smiled at each other and I saw all my sisters again, wiping tears from their eyes and crying silently.


	6. Chapter 6

It was the next day, the day that all of us campers would sit on the eleven buses and go on the twenty-hour bus ride to Mexico. I packed three suitcases full of my stuff and loaded them in the twelfth bus that would hold the luggage.

Mr. D, who was going along too, had a three-foot tall pile of wine magazines in his hands for the bus ride.

I was riding with Emma, Kate, Cody, Travis, Nico, Percy, Annabeth, Silena and her boyfriend Beckendorf, and several other campers that I didn't know. I was stocked with stuff to last at least 15 hours, all conviniently located in Nico's and my backpacks.

When I caught up with Nico as we were boarding the bus, he asked me, "What did you even put in here?"

To which I smiled and replied, "You'll see on the bus."

The seating arrangements were this: Nico and I across from Emma and Kate in the frront row with Cody and Travis behind them. Across from Cody and Travis were Percy and Annabeth, because when Silena tried to sit there, they both shouted, "NO!" Silena, Beckendorf, and the eight other campers were just in the back somewhere.

When bus started moving, I asked Kate, "What do people usually do on field trip buses?"

She smiled, "Sometimes they sing annoying songs."

"Why don't we do that?"

"High School Musical, perhaps?"

"Yeah!"

So that's how Kate and I got everyone singing High School Musical songs. Travis wasn't enjoying it, though. He was hyperventilating and was curled up into a ball on the seat.

I asked Nico, "What's wrong with your brother?" while everyone else was singing, "We're All In This Together."

Nico shrugged. "He just hates this movie. And he's known to overreact. A lot."

"Good to know."

The bus pulled over and Mr. D called a Rest Stop. We were all groaning and being obnoxious because we were cramped on a bus for so long. Until I had an idea.

"I know! Nico, give me your backpack! I need to get something!" I was handed his backpack. I began fishing around in it until I found the stuff I was looking for.

"_Water guns_?" Emma asked incredulously. I nodded and threw one to everyone.

"Who picks teams?" I shouted.

Travis hopped up and down, waving his hand. I picked him as a captain. I also picked Annabeth as captain since she seemed like she could handle it.

Annabeth picked Percy. Travis picked Emma. ("Because she's good with strategy!") Annabeth picked Beckendorf. Travis picked Cody. Annabeth picked Kate. Travis picked Nico. Annabeth picked Silena. I was stuck on Travis' team.

"GAME ON!" yelled Beckendorf impressively.

And so our war commenced. The team who stayed dry the longest would win. We all began shooting people with water guns. Even though we were between the ages of 12 and 18, it was still so much fun. The big dramatic ending was Percy automtically filling his team's water guns and making them dry while they ran up to us and squirted us.

My team, at least was all soaking wet when Dionysus called us in the truckers' restaurant to get breakfast. I was sooooooooo glad at that point that I only ate nectar and ambrosia, because all the food looked like puke.

After all of our makeshift breakfasts, Percy grudgingly willed all of my team dry because we had to get back on the bus.

During a chorus of, "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round," I hesitantly leaned into the wonderful warmth that was Nico to see what would happen. To my delight, he put his arm around my shoulder.

We stayed like that for hours, even after he and everyone else except the driver had fallen asleep.

I guessed it was about midnight when something happened. Without warning, Travis bolted upright in his seat. "Pull over!" he commanded the driver.

The driver protested, "Only Mr. D can tell me to-"

Travis' eyes seemed to glow red for half a second, so the driver shut up and pulled over. Travis hopped off the bus.

By then, everyone was awake, including his Kate, who tried to follow her boyfriend.

When she got within three feet of him, he told her, "Stay back."

Kate looked like she was going to cry. "But Travis-"

"If you know what's good for you, stay back."

"No! You can't make me!" Kate ran up to Travis and was about to give him a hug when he pushed her away. She stumbled backwards into Emma.

"I told you to stay back. That goes for the rest of you, too."

Suddenly his skin began to bubble like he was drinking Polyjuice Potion. He rose into the air and let out a terrifying shriek before howling at the full moon.

I knew what was happening an instant before it happened. His skin turned to fur. He grew much larger and hairier. His muscles expanded. His nose lengthened.

"You're a werewolf!" I gasped.

His voice came out differently, all gruff and gravelly. "No, I'm a unicorn. Yes! I am a werewolf! And not one of those shape-shifters like in Twilight."

I explained to the others, "He's a real werewolf, sort of like the kind in movies. He only turns into one at the full moon."

"Now all of you stay away from me! I'm dangerous." He turned to Kate. "I am so sorry. I would've told you sooner!"

Kate put on one of the fiercest expressions I'd ever seen. "What else are you hiding?! You could have another girlfriend, and I wouldn't know!"

"Kate- I'm really sorr-"

"Don't even try to tell me that you're sorry! Get away from me, wolf boy!"

Travis-the-wolf looked hurt, but ran away all the same.

"Get back on the bus!" the driver told us. When we didn't budge, he added, "Now!" That didn't work, so he said, "Or I'm getting Mr. D." At that we all got on the bus.

Kate was sobbing silently, with Emma trying to comfort her. I made an impulsive and stupid decision that would almost definitely ruin my life forever.

I got off the bus, yelling behind me, "I'm getting that dog and dragging his sorry butt back on the bus, wolf or not. I'll be back."

With that, I took off at full speed and started tracking my first ever wolf.


	7. Chapter 7

I was vaguely aware of someone following me as I ran through the deserted forest land. So I stopped and waited for them to catch up.

"Lyra!" Someone called. I turned around. It was Nico. Of course.

"Go back!" I told him. "These are real werewolves! You know, ones that bite you to infect you!"

"What is something happens to you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Nico di Angelo, I am a perfectly capable half vampire. If I get into trouble, I do still have my vampire reflexes. I can't say the same about you."

"What am I supposed to do, then? Let you walk into a pack of monsters alone? I'm going with you!"

"You are not! I'm going by myself!" I sounded like a mad five-year-old.

"Is that a challenge?"

Impatiently, I turned around and started running on Travis-the-wolf's trail. I looked behind me to see Nico struggling to even see me. With a sigh, I stopped a second time.

"Fine, Nico, you can come, but I'll be relying on my monstrous side, so try not to hurt yourself. Now follow me."

We walked for a long time until we reached an opening in the forest. Six werewolves were lounging on fallen trees, but stiffened as I approached.

I recognized the leader from when I visited Europe with my dad. We briefly met him and he ran away before we cound inflict any damage.

"Meat puppet," I greeted him.

"Dracula," he greeted me back.

"We come in peace," I said carefully.

The leader stood up. "But we're kind of hungry. So if you could step aside..." He glared hungrily at Nico. I stepped in front of said Nico.

"Lay even a finger on him and you have me to deal with."

"What a big threat. A little vampire girl."

My eyes narrowed and I showed my fangs. I heard Nico gasp, so I hissed at him, "Deal with it," not losing my frightening composure.

"Oh, a little vampire consoling her human boyfriend. Well, not so human for long-"

Travis cut in, "Hey, man, that's my brother. And she's my friend."

The leader turned around and stared disbelievingly at Travis. He jabbed a finger at Nico and me. "You know these things?"

"Yep. And no matter how hungry I am, I'm not preying on friends."

"You don't control us, though." He stepped forward, causing us to step backward.

I heard Nico take a sharp intake of breath, heard Travis yell, "NO!", and heard the lead wolf shout, "YES!", all in the same second. I automatically turned to the smell of blood.

Nico had snagged his finger on a thorn from the rosebush we backed into. Before I could react, I heard a feral snarl building in my throat.

_No, Lyra!_ I told myself. _It's Nico! You love him!_

Using the L-word, even in my thoughts, jarred me back to reality. Nico was on the ground, cowering in fear from me. I was poised just above his neck, mouth open and all. I groaned and flipped so that I would land a few feet away.

"I am so sorry," I told him cautiously. I had almost killed someone that I liked! A lot!

The werewolves, all except Travis, were howling with laughter.

I looked at Nico. "Let's get out of here. I knew that this wouldn't work out." I looked at Travis, hatred marring my features. "If you ever feel like showing yourself around us again, I wouldn't go near your girlfriend. Or should I say, your EX-GIRLFRIEND. She's a wreck. She doesn't like being lied to."

I walked away, Nico self-consciously following me. We were both still shaken-up about the whole, Me-almost-sucking-his-blood thing, but he still trusted me. Sheesh, he must like me a lot.

When we were out of earshot of the wolves, I smelled something new and sighed in exasperation. "Get behind me again. Vampires this time. Lots of them."

As the vampires came into view, I recognized the one leading the way, a half-smile playing across his lips as he held up his hands in mock-surrender.

"Daddy!" I yelled happily as I ran up and gave my nineteen-year-old-looking father a big hug like I did when I was little.

"Lyra! You're getting prettier every time I see you! How's life at Mount Boring?"

"I'm actually living at a summer camp for half-gods with other people my age. It's a lot of fun."

"Then what brings you this far south?"

"We were on a field trip to Mexico, see. And one of the campers was a werewolf so I tried to catch him, but it didn't work out so great. Now we're making our way back to the bus, but it's kind of hard since it keeps moving."

I saw my dad's eyes flicker to Nico.

"And that's my friend" (my dad's eyebrows raised skeptically) "Nico di Angelo, son of Hades."

My dad, who wasn't used to being around humans unless he was drinking their blood, approached Nico nicely enough and shook his hand.

I noticed the other vampires and my mouth fell open. (I also realized that one was NOT a vampire)

"Lyra, sweetie, you remember the Cullens?" Jacob Black cleared his throat. "And the Blacks?"

My eyes widened as I took in the main characters of one of my favorite series. I nodded to each in turn. "Carlisle. Esme. Edward. Bella. Jacob. Renesmee. Alice. Jasper. Rosalie. Emmett. What brings you guys here?"

It was Bella who answered. "We're looking for a place to put down roots. We had to leave Forks awhile ago. And on the way here, we ran into your dad."

With a start, I saw that Jacob and Renesmee were holding hands. Renesmee seemed full grown, but it still creeped me out.

I nudged Nico. "Uh, Nico, this is everyone. Everyone, this is Nico, my _friend_." I saw several eyebrows raise at the word "friend." Not only that, but Emmett looked like he was going to burst out laughing. Nico blushed. My throat burned, but I promised myself that I would NEVER EVER EVER harm, or even almost harm, Nico again. So I ignored the delicious smell of his heart beating. Instead, I focused on a rather boring leaf above my head.

My dad said to me, "Lyra, visit me any time. And tell your mother, well, that I say hi. And not to trust that Ares freak."

I smiled. "Bye, Daddy. Bye everyone. I'll visit you all soon!"

My dad said, "Before you leave, I want to tell you that my temporary house is right outside Richmond if you ever want to visit."

"Thanks! Bye!"

Nico and I resumed our walking. It seemed to take the rest of the night to find the bus, and I noticed why it had stopped. Three vampires with red eyes were attacking the campers.


	8. Chapter 8

Before we plunged into battle, I had something to say to Nico. It looked like he had something to say too, so I let him go first.

"Lyra, I know that I've only known you for a few days. But those love arrows really sped up our relationship, so I just want to tell you this: no matter what happens, I'll be there for you. I really, really like you, Lyra, and I don't care that you're half vampire. I don't exactly care about what just happened when we were with the werewolves. I'll always try to protect you to the best of my ability. if something happens to you, I'll be right at your side trying to bail you out. No matter what."

What happened next was unreal. One moment I was staring at Nico, and the next we were kissing. I felt weightless; like I could drift up to the sky at any second and never come back down.

I was jarred viciously back to reality by Mr. D poking me in the back and draing my attention to the battle.

I looked at Nico. "Wow. That was, to put it lightly, magical. I was just going to say that I am never going to even come close to hurting you again. I'll control myself better. I never want to almost suck your blood again."

Nico was smiling, but suddenly he frowned.

"What?" I demanded.

"We need to help the campers. It looks like they're losing."

I pouted. "Fine."

With a roll of his eyes, Nico turned to the battle and started fighting valiantly. I came at it from the opposite direction. I stopped in my tracks: I knew some of the vampires attacking us. They were nomads... and thirsty.

What really made me start fighting was one of them sneaking up on me from behind and trying to bite off my arm. You know, that kind of thing really makes a person want revenge. So I circled my attacker, looking for an opening. I found one, pulled back, and found a severed hand in my mouth.

"Gross!" I squealed as I chucked it at Mr. D's head (on accident, of course).

The nomad took that as an opening and reached in for the kill. I stepped back just in time.

This was far worse than anything I had ever experienced. I was so afraid that I was almost shaking. The fear only powered me to fight harder, though, which was a definite plus.

I lunged again at the nomad and this time found an arm in my mouth, which I chucked at Mr. D again. (Seriously, it was an accident! Why would I throw an arm at him on purpose?) The vampire was losing his edge against me, and that made him mad.

As I bit off his head, he bit my arm and venom was coursing through my veins.

"AAAAGH!" I shrieked. Vampire venom was poison to me! I could feel the darkness closing in. I collapsed on my knees, holding my arm. There was a HUGE gash, but of course there was no blood. I had always wondered what flowed through my veins...

There was my super-unhelpful ADHD kicking in at the wrong time.

Nico hovered over me, shouting, "NO!"

I choked out a final sentence. "Nico... I love you."

And then the darkness overpowered me and I was in nothingness.

* * *

**Author: May I make a brief note?**

**So, what do you think just happened? You're probably thinking something along the lines of this:**

**"Lyra is NOT dead! She can't be! She's going to wake up in Camp Half-Blood or something!"**

**I am sad to tell you that Lyra is in fact dead.**

**WAIT! Before you click the "Close" button! This is, however, not the end.**

**Now you're probably like:**

**"Huh? What? But if she just died, then how is that not the end? Are you trying to confuse me?!"**

**No, I am not trying to confuse you. Yet.**

**"Yet? What is THAT supposed to mean?!"**

**Calm down, weary reader. Just take in the facts and wait for me to post the next chapter, which of course will be in Lyra's POV.**

**"But how? Isn't she dead?"**

**Exercise your brain. It's good for you. Now, do you have an idea?**

**"Hmm?"**

**I'll take that as a "No." If you have ideas for what you think happens next, put it in your review. I'm extremely curious.**

**-Wacky Daughter of Apollo**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author: Thank you all for reviewing. All of your suggestions were correct in their own unique ways. To figure out what I just meant, start reading!**

_Oops, just remembered I forgot a disclaimer. I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE JUNK I'M TALKING ABOUT. There._

* * *

I seemed to wake up in a dark room filled with ghosts. Well, _ghosts_ wasn't exactly the right term. More like... almost see-through thingies.

I sat down in the only available seat and tapped my foot impatiently. To kill time, I looked around the room. Near the door was a big flashing sign on a podium that said "DOA Recording Studios." At the podium was a tall man chatting on a cell phone in Latin. It sounded like Latin, at least. The man looked to be roughly 6'5". I'd seen MUCH taller. Namely, the Quileute shape-shifters. Talking to any one of them was like talking to the top of a skyscraper.

I suddenly felt a wind-ish thing as, in a spark of light, Nico appeared. All the almost see-through thingies rose silently and bowed. I didn't, because I didn't know I had to. The tall man stopped his conversation and snapped his cell phone shut. He approached Nico.

"Lord Nico! What brings you here?" he asked quizzically.

Nico explained, "The welfare of my friend, Lyra Andromeda Ryan. She just died. Do you have any idea where she is?"

The tall guy pointed in my direction. I waved at Nico.

"Lyra!" he gasped as he pulled me into a hug.

"Nice to see you too, Nico," I told him. My voice was barely a whisper, so I looked at my hands. And my arms. And my legs. I was one of those annoying almost see-through thingies! Yikes!

"You look awful!"

"Well, I just died. What did you expect?"

"Dunno. Come on. I'm going to see if I can resurrect you."

"What?"

He smiled my favorite evil smile of his. "I'm a son of Hades, remember? Now let's go to my dad and see what can be done." He raised his voice and addressed the big man. "Charon. I want safe passage across the River Styx for myself and my friend."

"What's in it for me?" Charon asked skeptically.

"I won't tell my father to put you in Tartarus. Now hurry up! I don't have all day!"

"Yes, young Master. Whatever you want."

Charon opened the doors of a giant elevator and motioned us in along with a few more almost see-through thingies. When the doors slid shut, my pretty outfit turned into ugly black robes. I pouted.

"What's wrong?" Nico asked me, pulling me against him.

"My clothes! I'm hideous!"

Nico laughed. "Lyra, you will never be hideous. Sheesh, you daughters of Aphrodite and your clothes."

I slouched and grimaced.

The elevator doors swung open and we were at the most depressing harbor I'd ever seen. Tiny canoes dotted the surface of the black body of water littered with objects. If I wasn't dead, I would have examined them. But I was dead, which made me grimace more.

When we were across the River Styx, Nico started running and gestured for me to come with him. We came to a black, depressing palace with skeleton guards, who bowed lowly to Nico.

"Good day, Lord Nico," one said.

"Your father has been anticipating your return," another said.

I hesitated before entering the dark castle.

"What are you waiting for, Lyra? Come on!" Nico said as he pulled me in by the hand.

We ran down a long, winding hall until we reached the main room. A twenty-foot tall (at least) man was sitting on his throne of bones. On a slightly smaller throne was a pretty lady who looked a little like the goddess Demeter.

Hades and Persephone. There they were. Persephone smiled at me while Hades glared. The gigantic god made me gulp.

Nico bowed, so I did too. Hades waved us up.

"Hey, Dad," Nico said.

Hades sighed. "And who is this, son?" He pointed at me. "I smell the traces of vampire."

"Uh, that's my girlfriend, Dad." Nico blushed. "Lyra Andromeda Ryan? Daughter of Aphrodite and a vampire? Do you know her?"

"Lord Hades," I said formally.

"Lyra. Wow. It has been quite some time. Might I say, you do look a lot like your mother."

"Thank you, Lord Hades."

And then he must have remembered the word "girlfriend." He stood up and started pacing.

"Only my son could fall for a half-vampire! Only mine! And a dead one at that!" He stopped pacing. "I assume you want me to bring her back to life, son?"

Nico nodded.

"It will be difficult..." Lord Hades started. But Nico breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Dad!"

"I have not yet said yes. What says your brother?"

"Travis? I dunno, I haven't asked him. Oh yeah- Dad, he's a werewolf. Thought I should tell you."

Hades groaned. "I swear that I have the worst family in the history of ever. Always something going wrong!"

"Do you still want Travis, Dad?"

"Yes, Nico. Please call him."

Nico took a phone out of his pocket shaped like a skull. He dialed a number and started talking.

"Travis! Dad wants you!" (pause) "I don't care if everyone hates you! How is that different from any other day?" (pause) "I'm only joking! The point is, get your lazy butt over here." (pause) "What about pitchforks?" (pause)

Nico covered the receiver. "Dad, all the campers are chasing him with pitchforks. Apparently. Because he accidentally wounded Mr. D during the battle."

Hades laughed.

Nico resumed talking to his half-brother. "I don't care if you're stuck in a tree with people stabbing at you! Get here right now! It's important!" (pause) "Lyra's body? They're just about to burn it?!"

Nico looked to his dad again.

"Have him bring it here," Hades said.

"Bring it here, moron. Now hurry up!" (pause) "I don't know how to get out of a tree! Fall down or something!" (pause) "If they stab you, then that's just too bad. Now get over here and bring Lyra's body!" (pause) "You are too strong enough, idiot!" He held the phone in front of his face and yelled, "Get here or I'm sending the Furies." Then he hung up.

I cocked my head to the side. "What did the pitchforks have to do with anything?"

Nico shrugged. "All the campers are chasing him. Mr. D's orders."

I could barely contain my laughter.

Two seconds later, Travis appeared in front of Hades holding my lifeless corpse. His clothes were in tatters and he had a few cuts. Luckily I was dead, because otherwise I would have subconsciously tried to kill him.

Even in death, I was gorgeous. My face looked peaceful, untroubled. It was weird looking at myself at this angle, and not having it be a mirror image.

"Do I always look like that?" I asked Nico. He smiled and nodded. "Wow."

I looked again at my face. I could have been sleeping, or even in a coma. I didn't exactly look _dead_.

Hades addressed Travis. "Travis, what say you? Should I attempt to bring Lyra back to life?"

Travis looked unsure, and I knew that my fate rested on this one werewolf, who I had not been exactly nice to at our last encounter.

Finally he spoke. "Lyra is my friend. I vote yes."

Hades smiled at his younger son. "Good choice. Your brother would have killed you had you said no."

As if to emphasize the point, Nico cracked his knuckles. Hades chuckled.

Hades addressed me. "Lyra, I will need to contact your parents to borrow some of their immortal energies. And I must warn you: if this crazy scheme works, you will be a full vampire."

"I'll take it," I said without hesitation.

Hades grinned at Nico. "Anything for a future daughter-in-law."

Nico's jaw dropped and his face turned red.

"Thanks, Dad." Nico said sarcastically.

"Anytime, son. But you really should be thanking me. And your sister has been clamoring to see you."

"Bianca?" Nico gasped.

An almost see-through thingy of a younger girl than me ran into the room and embraced Nico.

"Nico, you look even older than me!" she whispered happily.

"Bianca! I haven't seen you in so long! How's Elysium?"

"Heavenly." This Bianca ghost-ish thing turned to me and smiled. "Hello, Lyra. I'm Nico's older sister. And I would like to thank you. The day that I died, something seemed to die in Nico. But now that you're here, it's back. He is truly happy when he's around you. I keep half-expecting him to pull out his old deck of Mythomagic and try to teach it to you."

"Mythomagic?" I demanded to Nico. "That little nerdy card game? You actually played that?"

He looked ashamed, so I quickly finished, "So did I, once upon a time. With my dad."

I turned back to Bianca. "It was really nice meeting you."

She shook my hand. "You too. Take care of my baby brother." And then she was gone.

Hades rose from his throne and called out to his sons. "Travis, tell Aphrodite that I want to speak to her here. Nico, fetch Lyra's father and bring him here, on account of that his daughter is dead and I need him to help save her." Then he looked at me. "No matter what you may have heard... or read... vampires, and even half-vampires, have souls. Yours seems a good one, and I see how Nico looks at you. So that is why I help you."

I bowed my head. "Thanks, Lord Hades."

"However, I have no idea what the outcome will be, so be prepared."

"I will, Lord Hades."

"As I said, anything for a future daughter-in-law."

And then he whisked out of the room, Persephone at his heels. I was left alone in the huge palace.


	10. Chapter 10

Not exactly knowing what to do, I walked up to a guard at the door.

"Excuse me," I said politely as I tapped one's shoulder. "Do you know, by any chance, where I'm supposed to go?"

The guard started hissing at me, but then I realized it was just talking.

"You... should... go... to... the... Grand Hall."

"Um, where is that exactly? I don't know my way around-"

"Down... the... hallway... and... to... the... left."

"Which left?"

His eyes narrowed. "The... left."

As I rolled my semi-transparent eyes, I heard the skeleton dude shove his friend and say, "What a maroon she is."

My eyes narrowed, my jaw stuck out, my teeth clenched, and my nostrils flared. I turned around and glared at them like the half vampire I was.

I swore I saw them take a step back as I continued down the hall, looking for "the left," but it could've been that my imagination was just acting up.

At last I found it. It was a huge corridor, almost as big as the one I was in. I ran down the hallway until I reached a huge room with one large table and six chairs. Hades was at the head, talking on his cell phone and scribbling mercilessly on a piece of paper at the same time. I realized he was talking to my dad.

"Yes, yes. Your daughter died. I need you to come here immediately, if you ever want to see your daughter alive again."

He hung up and I gulped.

Nico and Travis were arguing in a corner.

"Travis, I really couldn't care less about what happened at your pack's hideout."

"Nico! She tried to kill you!"

"But look who's not dead? Me! So stop worrying!"

"Why did she lunge at you?"

I was still fuming silently about the guards, so I snuck up on Travis as fast as I could.

"You do know that I can speak for myself, right?" I demanded.

"L-Lyra," he stammered. I realized that I must look terrifying, so I calmed down. A bit.

"I lunged at Nico involuntarily, Travis. Imagine you've been starving, in a desert, for four days."

"Why am I in a desert in the first place?"

"It doesn't matter! Anyway, there you are, really really hungry, until you smell a huge, succulent steak!"

"Yum."

"Apparently. You go for the steak, right? Only to realize at the last second that the steak is your best friend!"

"Yeesh."

"You saw Nico bleeding. And what did I look like?"

"A jaguar."

"What?"

"When you attacked my brother, you looked like a jaguar."

"Whatever. What did my face look like?"

"You looked kinda like you were drowning, no offense."

"None taken, because you're probably right. I couldn't control myself at all." I faced Nico. "Again, I am so so so so sorry."

Nico smiled. "No apologies needed. I've faced much scarier than you, don't worry."

"Good. Do you know yet when I'm going to have a body again?"

"My dad said something about tonight."

"Thank Zeus. This form is annoying."

Hades finished scribbling on his paper and beckoned us over. He addressed me.

"Lyra, your parents will be here in approximately forty five minutes. So, we should have you normal in a few hours."


	11. Chapter 11

I felt like dancing. I was finally going to be whole again!

I was bouncing up and down in anticipation as I was led by Hades to a small room with a table that had a big, comfortable-looking blanket on it. Nico and Travis were following us in, also looking excited.

Hades gestured to the table and I climbed on top of it. Hades tried to make Travis and Nico leave the room. I smiled at Travis and he happily left, but Nico wanted to stay, so Hades let him since he needed "an assistant."

Hades handed Nico two glass jars. One was filled with rose-colored mist and the other was filled with yellow-tinted mist. I caught sight of a label on the rose-mist jar that said "Aphrodite." On the other jar, the label said, "Vampire." I knew instantly what they were: some of my parents' immortal energy!

Hades told me, "Try to hold still, Lyra. I'm not sure if this will hurt."

I became a living statue as Hades took a jar and opened it. He waved the mist over me and started whispering an ancient Greek incantation.

My eyes darted to Nico. He was trying to hold still, smiling as if he was seeing me for the first time.

Hades waved the other jar of mist over me, still whispering that strange spell.

A sudden shock of pain came over me and I screamed in terror, the shriek echoing in the cavern-like palace. Nico's hands gripped the table, wanting to help, and not knowing how to. I levitated in the air, still screaming.

When I descended back to the table, I could feel my body enveloping my spirit once more.

I opened my eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

I saw Nico above me, smiling brightly. I rose shakily from the table and stretched. But something felt... _different._

I felt like me, yet at the same time I didn't. I know, great explanation, right?

Travis came back into the room, holding a tray of assorted meats. As he saw me, he dropped the platter. All the meat spilled on the floor except the juicy bacon strip between his teeth. He choked said bacon down and gaped at me.

"What was that about?" I demanded, but my voice sounded different. It sounded deeper. "Does anyone have a mirror?"

Travis picked up the silver platter and handed it to me wordlessly. After staring at the floor longingly, he picked up a steak and started gnawing on it self-consciously.

I raised the makeshift mirror up to my eye level and what I found shocked me.

"I'm... I'm... _old_!" I shrieked.

I looked at least seventeen. I could have been eighteen or nineteen, easily. My hair, which had once been torrential waves, was now perfectly manicured porcelain-doll ringlets. Thankfully it was still the interesting shade of chocolate brown that looked almost blonde in the sun. My eyes were the same, too. I had almost thought I'd be a full vampire, but I guess I was wrong. Sigh. My face looked kind of the same, sort of. It had chiseled out a lot, not to mention that my cheekbones became more prominent. My eyes still had the familiar light shadow underneath, as if I didn't get enough sleep. Which I didn't. Technically.

Nico soothed me, rubbing my back and whispering, "No you're not. You're still Lyra, and I still love you. I don't care how old you look."

With a pout, I realized that I was not any taller than I had been. My height had been the only thing that ever slowed me down, and I was still 5'2". Again, sigh. Nico was a whole lot taller than me, not that I cared. I looked so much older, it probably evened out. Whatever.

Travis had finished the steak and bent down to retrieve a huge ham. He chewed on it like a dog chews on its chew toy.

"Can you cut that out? What are you, a pig?" I asked impatiently.

"Uh, no. If I was, I'd be a cannibal pig." He rolled his eyes and gestured to the ham.

Nico said to him, "You know, that would be a good band name."

"Cannibal Pigs?"

"Yeah."

"We should make a band sometime."

"I call drums!"

"Come on, I wanted drums!"

"You can be a backup dancer."

"Backup dancer?! What am I, gay?!"

"You can't do anything else. And I saw you staring at Beckendorf!"

"Beckendorf?! WHAT?!"

I clapped my hands to get their attention. Sometime boys were sooooo immature.

"I look as old as my dad," (cringe) "and no one cares! If I hang out with you, Nico, people are going to think I'm weird!"

"Who cares what others think?"

"I do!" Uh-oh. I was sounding like my sisters. (Cringe) (Cringe) (Cringe) "At least I'm not a Cannibal Pig!" I turned accusingly to Travis and narrowed my eyes.

Travis snatched back the platter/mirror, picked up the meat, and ran out of the room eating a slice of bologna.

"Thank you, Lord Hades, for bringing me back to life," I said politely to Hades.

He smiled, which looked kind of creepy, and said, "Anytime. And I could only help you because your parents are immortal. And now you are, too."

"What?" I did NOT want to be immortal! Living forever would be so... BORING!

Nico looked as shocked as I felt. "But if she's immortal, then..." He trailed off and his eyes found me. "Turn me into a vampire!"

Now it was my turn to smile evilly. "When you look as old as I do!"

Nico groaned and kissed my hair.

"Defiant Lyra, what am I going to do with you?" he _tsk_ed.

Hades left and said, "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone."

I was going to say something, but Nico kissed me and it didn't matter anymore.


	13. Chapter 13

Nico, Travis, and I were going back to camp.

Travis was sulking. He didn't "want to be hit with pitchforks again!" But I made him come along anyway, just because I knew that Kate must feel guilty for what she said.

I was holding Nico's hand when we passed the border. Sydney, my annoying sister, came up to us.

"Nico! Like who's your new, old girlfriend? I thought you were like with Lyra!"

I waved to get her attention and gestured to my face.

"Ohmygods! Lyra, you're older than me!"

"Nice to see you too, Sydney," I muttered.

"You like have to tell me all about it! Every single second! Please please please!"

Travis wan't saying anything, so I turned around and what I saw shocked me.

His head was cocked to one side. His mouth was open slightly. But his eyes told the real story. He was looking at Sydney the way Jacob looks at Renesmee.

(A/N Sorry, actual Travis! I had a burst of inspiration! She's better than a bicycle, though. Right?)

"Uh oh." I said.

Travis shook his head and started screaming.

"No! NO! NOOOO! Why her?! WHY ME?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

As if in a trance, he went up to Sydney.

"I like your hair," he said dully.

Sydney squealed. "OMG! Did you like imprint or something?"

He said under his breath, "At least someone understands."

Then he went close to Sydney and gave her a big hug. Sydney didn't resist.

I was trying to hold back laughter. I looked at Nico and he was rolling on the floor, laughing silently.

"Let's...go," I said to Nico between giggles.

"Give the lovebirds a chance to pick out a wedding chapel!" Nico laughed.

Travis hissed, "I'll get you for this."

* * *

**A/N: OK, short chapter, I know. Sorry Travis!**


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